Kildare hotel expansion planned in Leixlip

KILDARE hotelier, Luke Moriarty, is planning to develop his Leixlip hotel over the next two years.

In an interview with the Sunday Business Post (December 3), Mr Moriarty, who opened the Court Yard Hotel on Leixlip’s Main street in 2005, said that he plans to “further develop the hotel over the next two years and to add 30 bedrooms.”

In the interview, the Kerry native also said he was looking at further opportunities to buy supermarkets.

He bought Palmerstown Shopping Centre in 1988 and opened SuperValu stores in  in Balbriggan (1991) and Skerries (1996).

He purchased the Bracken Court hotel in Balbriggan before building the Court Yard in Leixlip.

He said the ten years since the financial crash in 2007 were “challenging to say the least and, to be very honest, very difficult.”

He added: “Looking back, I would not have wished that period of time on my worst enemy - but with the support of family and in particular our work colleagues that worked day and night to get through those difficult times, we did indeed get through them. We maintained standards, we held onto our employees, and we tightened our belts.”

Recently, his Skerries store had a €2.5m investment put into it.

He stood for Fianna Fail in the 2007 General Election and did not get elected. But he does not rule out running again.

Mr Moriarty was appointed to the Railway Procurement Agency.

He said his group, which also owns a block of 73 apartments in Balbriggan, plans to carry out upgrading in Palmerstown in the next ten to twelve months.